Dealing with operational considerations, many of which result from weather or other environmental concerns, is a constant challenge in the fish farming industry. Technology and methods have evolved to attempt to optimize production and minimize risks (be they of underproduction, stock theft, or device failure). Early fish farming cage designs used wooden logs for strength and forty-five gallon or other drums for buoyancy (i.e., as what are commonly referred to as “floats”). It has since been an evolution of designing and building stronger and stronger cages; however, the bulk of such designs require that the cage floats of the surface of the body of water in which it is deployed. Float tubes are employed in many such designs to hold in place the related systems. These tubes are commonly disposed in a generally horizontal orientation. This is problematic as it lends itself to movement, buckling and twisting in view of movement of the body of water. This issue is made worse in situations of high winds and/or waves (both of which are not uncommon). This can and all too often does lead to cage failure. The severity of this issue is further is increased by use of multiple and larger cages, often in an interconnected manner. While this may be convenient for management and harvesting, it exacerbates issues of structural integrity and can result in problems with one cage translating to similar or other issues in adjacent ones.
Many commercially available designs use cages that are, for example, geometries approximating a square of fifteen by fifteen or twenty by twenty meters. Water movement and cage geometry often result in significant and differently directed forces acting on the various components of the cage, and resultant shearing, tearing and compression of the components in a generally disadvantageous manner. Thus, it is advantageous to minimize the impact of, for example, moving water (be it at the surface or below; although the horizontal designs commercially available are particularly susceptible to damage at the surface), and wind (at or above the surface) though known designs do little to achieve such minimization. For example, big waves put an enormous amount of stress on hinges at the water's surface; such hinges connect various parts of the cages, leading to a negative impact on overall structural integrity and positional stability. It is similarly very difficult to anchor these components because of the forces that are working against them.
Cage design is further complicated by the fact that while it is advantageous to employ cages in regions with cold climates (e.g., in view of the location or movement/migration patterns of various, different species of fish), seasonal ice is common in such regions. Ice encasing components of cages can lead to catastrophic results, particularly when the ice shifts. This is of greatest concern in geographic regions in which thick ice forms during the winter (e.g., 40 inches of ice is not uncommon in some parts of Canada, and other places). When this ice melts and starts to break free from the shore there are formed rather massive ice flows. In some instances, such flows are a square mile or more in surface area, and can damage cages by tearing them apart, or by impacting them when moving in the water. There is no practical means of stopping or diverting the movement of such ice (which tends to be at and may extend slightly below the surface of the water).
Accordingly, there is a need for a caged pen system that will eliminate and/or mitigate one or more of the risks, problems and shortcomings outlined above.